Implementing Printmaking in Junior High Schools under the New Curriculum: Practices, Challenges, and Pedagogical Responses

Abstract

Printmaking, an integral part of Chinese traditional arts and crafts with a history spanning over a thousand years—from the woodblock prints of the Tang Dynasty to the iconic Yangliuqing New Year paintings—aligns with the new curriculum standards’ core goals: inheriting socialist advanced culture, revolutionary culture, and excellent traditional culture. Beyond cultural transmission, it fosters junior high school students’ observational skills, practical abilities, and creative thinking through hands-on processes like carving, inking, and printing. This study investigates printmaking instruction in junior high schools under the new curriculum, focusing on its educational significance, current practices, challenges, and improvements. Data from semi-structured interviews with 8 teachers and 15 students were thematically analyzed. Findings indicate that while printmaking holds rich educational value—enhancing concentration, cultural identity, and problem-solving—it faces implementation barriers: uneven resource allocation (e.g., dedicated studios vs. improvised materials), insufficient teacher training in specialized techniques (e.g.,woodcut), and time constraints limiting skill refinement. Recommendations to address these issues are proposed to enhance printmaking education effectiveness, ensuring it fulfills the new curriculum’s vision of holistic art education.